Lovely Rita, no Meter maid.

[beowulf573]

Current forecast shows it hitting near Galveston then up towards Houston.

This should be interesting.

[Dale]

I may be wrong, but I think there's a consensus that the oceans are warmer (about a degree) than....I don't know...at some point in the past. I think there's also a consensus that's contributing to the intensity of these storms. I think the debate is the extent to which human activity is causing it, as opposed to it being a weather cycle that's independent of human activity.

[Dale]

Current forecast shows it hitting near Galveston then up towards Houston.

This should be interesting.

A friend of mine on the Florida panhandle says he hasn't been able to bring himself to take the plywood off his windows. They're in more-or-less constant state of boarded-upness.

Dale

[Joseph E. Smith]

Current forecast shows it hitting near Galveston then up towards Houston.

This should be interesting.

A friend of mine on the Florida panhandle says he hasn't been able to bring himself to take the plywood off his windows. They're in more-or-less constant state of boarded-upness.

Dale

I can identify with this.... I still have tape on my windows from last year's hurricane bonanza.

[djm]

Look at the bright side: maybe some storm-ravaged beach will cough up its hidden secrets of long-buried pirates' treasure. Aaarrrrr, that's what we pirates crave, stolen treasure .... and booty, fer sure ... Two things we pirates crave, stolen treasure and booty ... er ... and grog ... Three! That's three things we pirates crave, stolen treasure, booty and grog ...

Arrggg!

[jGilder]

Oh geeezzzz... not another hurricane thread. I can't find the political threads now because of all these hurricane threads. Can't you guys talk about anything else?

(This is satire; I have great compassion for the victims of hurricanes.)

[Lambchop]

There are women in the military, but you can't have sex with them because they don't live in the same areas as men.

Yes, I know I'm stating the painfully obvious.

Nope. Guess again.

This is a mistaken concept gotten from WWII movies. There haven't been that kind of women in the military since the late 60s or early 70s. The Navy may have had them a little longer.

They live in the same areas, in the same buildings, although not generally in the same rooms, and do the same jobs for the most part. I have shared several suites in quarters with men--the kitchen, usually--but not my personal rooms or bath. Bachelor officers' quarters are like hotels or apartment buildings. Barracks operate along the same lines as a co-ed dorm. In the field, whole units share accommodations.

Considerations of rank and chain of command aside, you can't have sex with them unless they want to have sex with you.

Therein being the problem.

[Jack]

There are women in the military, but you can't have sex with them because they don't live in the same areas as men.

Yes, I know I'm stating the painfully obvious.

Nope. Guess again.

This is a mistaken concept gotten from WWII movies. There haven't been that kind of women in the military since the late 60s or early 70s. The Navy may have had them a little longer.

They live in the same areas, in the same buildings, although not generally in the same rooms, and do the same jobs for the most part. I have shared several suites in quarters with men--the kitchen, usually--but not my personal rooms or bath. Bachelor officers' quarters are like hotels or apartment buildings. Barracks operate along the same lines as a co-ed dorm. In the field, whole units share accommodations.

Considerations of rank and chain of command aside, you can't have sex with them unless they want to have sex with you.

Therein being the problem.

Granted, I don't know much about the military other than the fact that it kills people and I believe killing people is evil, so I'll take your word.

That said, men can (and do, I've been told) have sex with each other in the military as long as nobody finds out or if those who find out don't report (I mention this because I used to know a man who, while serving, knew about military sex between men and didn't report it even though he was in a position to do so).

[Charlene]

Back to the weather . . .

At this page http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml there's a list of how many hurricanes have hit the US since 1851, arranged by decade. Yes, it looks like 2000 on is shaping up to be the most, but not the most MAJOR storms (Cat. 3 and above). Yet.

I was going to copy the table on here but tables seem to lose all the formatting whenever I try that, and then they look really confusing.

But here's an interesting quote from another page on that site:

To summarize, our current assessment of how global warming may alter hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones is as follows (from Henderson-Sellers et al. 1998, Knutson et al. 1998, and Royer et al. 1998):
There is no evidence to suggest tropical cyclones will have any major changes in WHERE they form or occur.

Preliminary analyses hint that only small to no change in the NUMBER of tropical cyclones may occur, and that regionally there may be areas that have small increases or small decreases in frequency.

The PEAK INTENSITY of tropical cyclones may increase by 5-10% in wind speeds, but this may be an overestimate because of simplifications in the calculations.

Little is known as to how the AVERAGE INTENSITY or SIZE of tropical cyclones may change due to global warming.

Overall, these suggested changes are quite small compared to the observed large natural variability of hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones. However, more study is needed to better understand the complex interaction between these storms and the tropical atmosphere/ocean.

For the full, very long article, check out: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G3.html

[Lambchop]

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE CONTINUING TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR
STRENGTHENING...AND ALL FORECAST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS RITA SHOULD
INTENSIFY SOME MORE...BEFORE AND AFTER IT REACHES THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THE NEW OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS ADJUSTED UPWARD ...AND
SHOWS RITA REACHING CATEGORY TWO STATUS BEFORE REACHING THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THERE IS A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY IT COULD STRENGTHEN FASTER
THAN FORECAST. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT RITA WILL BECOME A MAJOR
HURRICANE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...

Ugh.

At the moment, it's headed toward the Texas coast . . . Galveston through to Houston.

Uh oh.

[Charlene]

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE CONTINUING TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR
STRENGTHENING...AND ALL FORECAST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS RITA SHOULD
INTENSIFY SOME MORE...BEFORE AND AFTER IT REACHES THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THE NEW OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS ADJUSTED UPWARD ...AND
SHOWS RITA REACHING CATEGORY TWO STATUS BEFORE REACHING THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THERE IS A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY IT COULD STRENGTHEN FASTER
THAN FORECAST. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT RITA WILL BECOME A MAJOR
HURRICANE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...

Ugh.

At the moment, it's headed toward the Texas coast . . . Galveston through to Houston.

Uh oh.

And how many people from New Orleans are still in the Houston area?

[Tommy]

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE CONTINUING TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR
STRENGTHENING...AND ALL FORECAST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS RITA SHOULD
INTENSIFY SOME MORE...BEFORE AND AFTER IT REACHES THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THE NEW OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS ADJUSTED UPWARD ...AND
SHOWS RITA REACHING CATEGORY TWO STATUS BEFORE REACHING THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THERE IS A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY IT COULD STRENGTHEN FASTER
THAN FORECAST. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT RITA WILL BECOME A MAJOR
HURRICANE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...

Ugh.

At the moment, it's headed toward the Texas coast . . . Galveston through to Houston.

Uh oh.

Santa Fe Texas is inbetween Houston and Galveston, and I lived on Galveston during Carla and Alicia. My boards are up and bags are packed. If Rita comes as a category three or greater we evacuate.
We will head toward Dallas and try calling for a motel. We also take camping gear.

[Tommy]

Uh oh.[/quote]

And how many people from New Orleans are still in the Houston area? [/quote]

There are still many people from New Orleans in Houston and the surrounding area to Galveston.

[Lambchop]

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE CONTINUING TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR
STRENGTHENING...AND ALL FORECAST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS RITA SHOULD
INTENSIFY SOME MORE...BEFORE AND AFTER IT REACHES THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THE NEW OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS ADJUSTED UPWARD ...AND
SHOWS RITA REACHING CATEGORY TWO STATUS BEFORE REACHING THE GULF OF
MEXICO. THERE IS A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY IT COULD STRENGTHEN FASTER
THAN FORECAST. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT RITA WILL BECOME A MAJOR
HURRICANE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...

Ugh.

At the moment, it's headed toward the Texas coast . . . Galveston through to Houston.

Uh oh.

Santa Fe Texas is inbetween Houston and Galveston, and I lived on Galveston during Carla and Alicia. My boards are up and bags are packed. If Rita comes as a category three or greater we evacuate.

Will you have anywhere to go? Short of, say, Seattle?

Last year, that was the problem here. One hurricane hit, people evacuated, then couldn't go home, so the hotels and shelters were already full when a second storm hit . . . people had nowhere to go.

[Tommy]

Ugh.

At the moment, it's headed toward the Texas coast . . . Galveston through to Houston.

Uh oh.

Santa Fe Texas is inbetween Houston and Galveston, and I lived on Galveston during Carla and Alicia. My boards are up and bags are packed. If Rita comes as a category three or greater we evacuate.

Will you have anywhere to go? Short of, say, Seattle?

Last year, that was the problem here. One hurricane hit, people evacuated, then couldn't go home, so the hotels and shelters were already full when a second storm hit . . . people had nowhere to go.

Rita is still a long way off could go many places.
What state do you live in Lambchop?
We try to get a motel on the way to Dallas and also take camping gear.